Step nearly 5,000 years back in time and travel to the banks of the Nile River at the Cincinnati Museum Center's Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs exhibit. Making its U.S. debut here, the exhibition gives a sweeping look at life in ancient Egypt — from the gods they worshipped to the flourishing art scene and to the everyday lives of both commoners and ruling class alike.
With over 350 original artifacts — the oldest of which date back 4,500 years — The Time of Pharaohs is heralded as the largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts to ever go on the road. Notable items include the sphinx head of the pharaoh Hatshepsut, one of Egypt's most prolific rulers who presented herself as a king rather than a queen, and the coffin of Nakht, which explores the Egyptians' beliefs in the afterlife, religion and ceremonies. You can also see an actual mummy, in this case an elderly wealthy woman named Ta-khar. In the next room, you can view Ta-khar's mummy via a three-dimensional hologram — the world's first of its kind — which acts as the exhibition's finale. (Bonus: If you're a cat person, you'll want to check out the mummified feline on display, too.)
Items featured in The Time of Pharaohs are pulled from the University of Aberdeen Museums in Aberdeen, Scotland; the Romer und-Pelizaeus — Museum in Hildesheim, Germany; the Berlin Egyptian Museum in Berlin, Germany; and the Gustav-Lubcke-Museum in Hamm, Germany.
The exhibit runs through Aug. 18. For more information/tickets visit cinymuseum.org.
Photos by Hailey Bollinger and Paige Deglow
